TV pictures showed Santh crying at the end of the game, which his side won.

India's board of control will hold an inquiry on Monday and if found guilty, Harbhajan could face a number of punishments including a life ban.

The Punjab team management have lodged a formal complaint and he is expected to be charged under level 4 of the International Cricket Council Code of Conduct which relates to assaulting a fellow player.

"The BCCI condemns the behaviour of Harbhajan Singh as a contracted player of the board.

"And he is called upon to explain why disciplinary action should not be taken against him and has been asked for clarification by Monday evening," board secretary Niranjan Shah said.

BBC reporter Rahul Tandon said: "This is now going to be a big issue for those who are running the IPL to deal with.

"It's the only story in town and it's going to develop. This story is going to dominate the news for the next couple of days.

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